Routing apparatus.



F. G. WHITTIEH.

nouTlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8. 1914.

1,136,571 Patented Aprgzo, 1915.

dif/2 Q 5395 z /27 ex/Mr. m @.WM muy UNITED STATES FREDERICK G. WHTTIER,OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR T THE LAMSON CQMPANY,'QF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORIPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

PATENT oEEicE.

ROUTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2o, 1915,

Original application'led October 28, 19.12, Serial No. 728,049.l Dividedand this application led January 8, 1914. Serial No. 810,983.

\ offices and the like, where very large numbers of packages, bundles,etc., must be eX peditiously and eiiiciently handled during relatively7limited periods of time, and the' present application which is adivision of my application for United States Letters Patent, filedOctober 28, 1912, and entitled Routing apparatus, Serial-No. 728,049,relates more particularly to a modification described in the parentapplication but not claimed therein. v

In business places of the above indicated type, space is usually of verygreat importance and the package handling system should,` in the firstplace, be as compact as possible. l

It further should, preferably, be adapted vto deliver the goods to aplurality of points where they may be conveniently marked by, forexample, va number of employees of the establishment whose duty it is tolabel or mark upon the respective packages the symbol of the bin orrepository into which such packages are to be deposited, 'so that goodsintended to be delivered to patricular localities may be assembled inlgroups or batches preparatory to shipment.

It is highlydesirable that the apparatus be of simple construction andthat it be,l

adapted to deliver thev packages to the points where they are to belabeled in substantially consecutive order so that the goods first`con'- veyed to the routing table may in general be the first to belabeled or handled, and so on. The apparatus also should provide for arelatively slow movement ofI the packages over the table, and thatsubstantially toward the labeling points or operatives rather thalaterally with respect to the same.

These and other objects of my invention, will be hereinafter' referredto and the novel means and combinatlons of elements whereby they may beattained will be more particularly set forth in the claims appendedhereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof, .I have shown apreferred form of the apparatus in question; but I am aware that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from thespirit of my invention and hence desire to 'be limited only by the scopeof said claims. l Referring to the dra-wing: the ligure is a perspectiveview of a routing table constructed in accordance with the principles ofmy invention.

In the exemplication of the apparatus shown, the table proper isprovided with a sloping or inclined surface which is adapted to spreador distribute the parcels or packages, delivered thereto, toward thestations 2 at which said packages are labeled,

stamped, or otherwise treated.. In the present instance the stations 2are distinct from the surface 1, and comprise preferably horizontallydisposed surfaces or tables which are separated from the inclinedsurface 1 by beads or flanges 3. which provide means forl may vstand andit will be. observed that by' reason of the distributing action of thesurface 1, and particularly in view of its coaction with the beltanddeflector hereinafter referred to, stations 2 may extend or be disposedalong the length of a considerable portion of the periphery of thetable, permitting of a number of operatives simultaneously handling thepackages. If desired, the sides of the table may be provided withflanges 5, or the like, to prevent the inadvertent dropping of parcelsthereover and I' prefer to vprovide suitable conveying means such, forexample, as the belt 6, for delivering the parcels or packages tosubstantially the uppermost portion of the surface l.

There is a particular co-action between a belt which delivers laterallythereof to the `sloping table, and said table since by means,

sively and to a considerable extent differentially unloaded from theybelt or conveying means on to the table While at the same time theunloaded packages tendto distribute themselves over the surface of thetable as they are allowed to descend step by step toward the arrestingmeans 3; this step by step movement of the parcels being impartedthereto by reason of the successive re-Y moval of parcels by theoperatives. There is therefore obtained a quite automatic distributionof the incoming packages or parcels toward the respective stations.Those packages which are first delivered to the table, Will, of course,slide down until they engage the beading or arresting means 3 and willthus serve to retain packages to the rear thereof upon the inclinedsurface so that only as the first packages are removed can succeedingones descend into engagement with said beading.

If desired, the beading may be enlarged or more extendedly flanged, asat 8, immediately adjacent the spaces 4 in which the operatives stand,so as to prevent packages, by any chance, sliding ofi' fromlthe tableinto said spaces. It will be noted that the Width of the table'ispreferably very considerably greater lthan that of the conveyin 0'means. The lattermay be of any desired type of construction but I preferto use a belt conveyer of any well known description adapted to thepurpose in question.

Outside of the stations Q, which are located along the front edge of therouting table, is, 'in the present case, a conveying belt 9 which ridesin a channel 10 in a Well known manner. The channel or trough 10 may besupported upon uprights 11 and preferably contains both the upper andlower portions of the belt, as indicated in the figure.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The incoming packages which are delivered by the conveying means 6 aredeposited upon the surface 1 and automatically apportion themselves tothe respective stations 2. The operatives occupying the spaces 4 pick upthc lowermost packages which are in engagement with the beadin orflanges 3 and 8 and label them according to their ultimate destination,preferably placing thereon ,the number of the bin or receptacle intowhich such packages are to be deposited; the label or stamp beingapplied while the package reposes upon the surface 1. Thereafter. saidpackages are4 placed l upon the belt '9 from which they may be removedby operatives stationed adjacent the bins, not shown, since these latterform no part of the present invention.

One great advantage of the present construction is that the packageimmediately behind the onewhich has been picked `up by an Operativeafter labeling, or for the purpose of being labeled, automaticallyslides down toward the same operative in almost all cases, so that thegeneral consecutive order of the packages is v,not materially disturbed.The movement of; the packages over the surface 1 is, of course, more orless a step by step one and relatively sloW, depending upon the speed ofthe operative; but a package having once arrived opposite a givenoperative, remains stationary and convenient to his hand until heremoves the same from said surface. v y

It may be Well, in conclusion,l` to dWel somewhat upon the importance ofthe disposition of the conveying means 6, in the exemplified form of myapparatus. As stated, the extended spreader or def1ector'7 preferablyextends substantially the entire stantially in order except Wherepossibly a large parcel may carry a small one with it. It is to beparticularly noted, however, that where the spreading means employed issuch an extended deflector, the general angleof divergence of the latterfrom the line of travel of the conveyer should be but small. The surface1 may be given an inclination of, let us say,.23 degrees, and I havefound in practice that this relatively slight inclination affords moststatisfactory results 'for paper covered parcels-and the li re.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is: Y

1. The combination of a stationary routing table of sufficient extent toprovide a Vplurality of 4operating stations, means of materially lessWidth, than said table for conveying articles toward the table, articledefiecting means for causing said conveying means to deliver laterally.thereof toward said table, said table having a pronounced downwardslope and a smooth surface whereby to spread the so delivered articlesover its surface substantially toward said stations by gravity, andmeans for stopping and accumulating said articles at each of ysaidstations. i

2. The combination of a wide stationary routing table of sufficientextent to provide a plurality of operating stations, conveying means,the Width of which is less than half the Width of said table, forconveying articles toward the table, article deflecting means, ytheoverall length of Which is substantially equal to the Width of saidtable, for removing articles from said conveying means and depositingthem according to size upon successive portions o f said table, saidtable sloping downwardly from said conveying means to cause the articlesdeposited thereupon to move downwardly thereover toward said stations bygravity, and means to cause said articles to accumulate upon the slopingsurface of the table until said articles are removed therefrom by theoperatives at said stations;

3. The combination of a routing table of suflicient extent to provide aplurality of operating stations, compartments for the operatives at saidstations, means for materially less width than said table for conveyingarticles toward and delivering them laterally, with respect to saidmeans, to the table, said conveying and delivering means 4 including adevice for selectively unloading articles of successively decreasingsize normally successively on to said table along the extent thereof,saidy table being sloped to deliver articles upon the surface thereofsequentially toward said stations as the lowermost packages upon saidtable are removed. and means to accumulate articles upon the slopingsurface of said table adjacent said compartments.

4. The combination of a stationary routing table of sufficient extent toprovide a plurality of operating stations, conveying means, at a higherlevel than said stations, to carry articles to said table, saidconveying means traveling along an extended edge of said table, means toremove large articlesfirst and thereafter successively smaller articlesfrom said conveying means, and de-` posit them upon said tablesubstantially sequentially according to' size, said table being slopeddownwardly from said extended edge thereof toward said stations andhaving stationary means at said stations to cause said articles toaccumulate upon the sloping table surface.

5. The combination of a. stationary sorting table of sufficient extentto provide a plurality of stationsfor operatives, the surface of saidtable being generally inclined to the horizontal at such an angle as topermit of the articles to be handled sliding downwardly thereover, meansfor conveying articles toward said table; a device for unloadingarticles from said conveying means laterally with respect to said meanson to said table, articles deposited on the latter from said conveyingmeans moving downwardly over said surface by the action of gravitysubstantially directly toward said stations, stationary means forlimiting the downward movement of, and retaining said articles at saidstations, a series of spaced individual supports adjacent said movementlimiting means, and means extending past said supports for conveying theassorted articles from said table.

In testimony whereof I have ailixed my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

y FREDERICK G. VVHITTIER.

Witnesses:

y S. B. PITMAN,

M. E. HERsoM. v

